Cummins 4bt in small pick up

Trauger

yo guys just came upon the discovery that looks very appealing to me. Small cummins diesel engine based off the 5.9 12 valve. I heard of these in tractor uses and big wood chippers but recently saw one in a ranger online. I was wondering if you guys have any info on this or have one your seleves cause I would really like to drop one of these in a ranger. Im looking for avaiblity price and where you can get these engines, cost to put it in a truck, mpgs, and best maunal tranny to put it behinde any help would be greatly appericated

Trauger

I work on a case front end loader with a 4bt. Thats a pretty heavy engine for a ranger. It is a 6bt with 2 cylinders chopped off. You will have to beef up the front suspension to carry it.

ya I looked at the specs its about 750 lbs. Do you think a f150 would be better. Also its only makes 120 hp some I what kind of rmps would the engine be at around 65. And one more thing if I put it in a ranger would I have to get beefer axles for the extra torque

Racerex

Most engine swaps that yield a true benefit- i.e. more power or efficiency have adapter kits available from the aftermarket.
Does the ranger have a non-US or European spec. diesel engine and trans combo? If so, that would save you a ton of time and money.
Having done a few engine swaps in non-OEM vehicles I can tell you the time and or money spent will be 3X what you think.
Even if you fab. alot of your mounts and adapters, the devil is in the details.
Diesel will need aLOT more cooling sytem.
Custom wiring for glo-plugs and heavier starting (cranking) load.
Custom exhaust and likely major fuel delivery upgrades.
Beefed up drive line/axle(s).
Will the frame and suspension be dependable with the added weight and tourque?
Will it be a pleasure to drive, or an adventure to keep it on the road?

If the engine you have your eyes on is an industrial-type, your first major hurdle will be finding a full sychro trans. that won't be huge,heavy, and/or power robbing.

If you are a good shadetree engineer, you can put anything together with anything, the question to ask yourself is will it pay off, in the way you expect it to.
Absolutely, the fun is in the building, and satisfaction is nearly guaranteed when you create the vehicle YOU want. Maybe there are some other smaller vehicles others have modded for diesel power,-Jeep or Landcruiser come to mind.The cool, irresistable thing about creating a frankentruck is your choices are kinda wide open!
O-yah, the cost, even for a small turbodiesel and appropiate trans, in running condition, will likely be several thousand. Many of these projects get started 'cause a guy already has an engine laying around, and that is the major $ hurdle out of the way.
Good luck.

1.21GW

TheGary

The 4BT is a good engine but heavy and large for a 4 cylinder. They can be made to put out 200 hp with very little investment. There are a few varients and some are easyier than others to work with. You will find that they are in demand and there for pricy. If you are serious you might want to look into the cummins 3.3. It is smaller than the 4bt and lighter. If you get the none electonic version it can be made to put out about 150 hp with out much work. Do a search on the web and you will come up with a guy who put one in a jeep and he gets into everything you would need to know to put one in just about anything last I checked on his swap he was getting 32 mpg with the 3.3. The 3.3 is an industrial engine and has only been around for 10 years or so, so parts will not be as easy to come by as the 4 BT.

Ruger454

Have you identified your goals for this investment? Aside from it being unique, what is it that you believe will be the benefit from this? And indeed you should understand the disadvantages, because there always are some.

Diesels excel at steady-state operation in their rpm sweet spot, but they're not nearly as good when there are many changes in throttle input - like regular driving. You may find that having made a large investment in time and treasure that you have a vehicle that's good at one thing (towing?) and not very good at anything else.

Trauger

my goal is to have great mpg with out sacaficing power. Say I got a ranger with a small gas I4 sure its great on gas but power is just enough to haul my bike. Say I got a f150 with a big v8 4x4 has great power but I will be spending lots of money in gas. I see it easier to put a 4bt in a 1/2 ton my choice would be a ford 89 with a box frame. My plan is to find a cummins turbo diesel laying around at a junk yard and buy it for under 2 grand. Then hopefully I can find a f150 with little rust and scratches or clean one up a bit. I will look online for possible transmisson hook ups I perfer manual. After that Ill call my two uncles for have expierence In this and know guys in machine shops who can make the mounts. After that I will check torque ratings on f150 axles and if not good enough for engine I would 1. get a ford super duty axle. 2. look at what Dana offers. After that my uncle is has electrical expiernence and hopefully the enigine I bought comes with working wiring if not go to a the swap meet and try to find some. After that put in a more powerful fuel pump some new gas tanks and fuel filter bigger fuel lines and make sure injectors work. Last part of plan Drive hopefully with over 25 on highway and making 250 ft lbs of torque. Thanks again for all your help

Yamiryder

Looking at your last post to clear some things up, i think if you are looking at making 250 ft lbs in an F-150, it will be a bit of a dog. As for axles, an 89 would have a TTB front axle, which wouldn't handle the weight of a 4bt very well. You might want to look into possibly a Dana 44 swap for the front, and i think the stock rear axle will be ok. And for wiring, I would strongly suggest buying a new complete wiring harness as opposed to one form a swap meet. Wiring isn't something you don't want to mess around with....just some things I saw

Trauger

I do like the eco boost but problem is I cant afford it and I think the cummins still would kill it in terms of mileage and propely set up a I think the cummins can make just as much power. thanks for the help but for my price range new trucks arnt a option.

EagleFreek

The 4BT's have become quite popular and are getting hard to come by at a good price. You may have buy a step van, pull the engine and than scrap the van. Like others have said, you have to do the calculations on cost of the swap vs. the gain in mpg. Do you have emissions testing in your area? If so that will be a hurdle. I have a buddy with a Jeep Cherokee, a full size one not the little XJ, and he installed a 4bt and gets 30-35mpg. However he did his research and geared it properly and is quite easy on the throttle. How often to you haul your bike and what kind of distances? It might make for sense to have a fuel efficient daily driver and a truck to haul the bike on the weekends. Another option is to use a more fuel efficient vehicle to tow your bike on a trailer.

Trauger

did lots of research got it pretty much figured out I want to put a 99 and below dodge nv4500 transmission with the engine and im thinking the next f150 body I see axles and suspension I think will be ok left alone. Now I just need converter mounts cooling system and electrical and I think I can do this build for under 8 grand or less. Im planning on hauling the bikes about 50 mile distances every week or so to the sand pits and enligsh town maybe even pa so mpg and realiabilty is a must and I dont see a problem with the transmission nor the engine so I think its good. But got to look in on what emission standards the state of new jersey has

EagleFreek

probably because the 6bt is used for 3/4 and 1 ton trucks the 4bt is exactly like the 6bt but less power so its like half ton suited

Ford uses the 4BT in their F350 and F550 in South America.

I did a quick calculation. I see F150s in that year range for about $5000. I assumed 1000 miles a month, 15 mpg with the stock engine and 25 with the diesel. At $3.70 a gallon it would take 30 months to break even with your $8,000 estimate.